Tim McGraw Is Cherishing Family Time (and Good Food!) in Quarantine

Tim McGraw knows the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the related quarantining has been hard on people due to job losses, the illnesses and deaths of loved ones, and isolation from family and friends. Two of his daughters are missing out on the experiences that come with the end of college and high school, in fact. But McGraw is trying to focus on the unexpected positives of this time.

While the country star and wife Faith Hill's oldest daughter, Gracie, opted to stay out in California as safer-at-home orders began taking effect around the United States, the country power couple had their middle daughter, Maggie, and her boyfriend home from college for a few weeks during the pandemic. Their youngest daughter, Audrey, is there, too, and McGraw and Hill are thrilled to have a little more time with all of them.

"All the things that would be going on with [Audrey's] senior year, all the stuff that would be happening, we wouldn't be spending that much time with her right now," McGraw recently told The Boot and other media members during a virtual roundtable. "We wouldn't have the moments that we had with her this last six or seven weeks, or whatever it's been, to just hang out and be together ...

"Hopefully, one of these days, we'll all look back and think, 'Thank God we have this time together, just to spend and connect,' because she's going to be gone [to college soon]," he adds.

Indeed, nostalgia is the name of the game in McGraw and Hill's house. McGraw says they've been spending their downtime watching some of their older favorite movies and revisiting beloved albums; he's also been immersing himself in music from the late 1980s and early '90s, when he was starting his career.

"You find more meaning in things for sure [when you're forced into downtime]," McGraw reflects. "Music is at the top of my list for stuff that's sort of soul food for your heart and for your soul ... Music has always been there for me as something that that's been my, sort of, best friend all throughout my life ...

"There's so much meaning in all the stuff that you just let go past you, but when you're just listening to stuff and you're not really letting it settle in on you ... you can not see the extra meanings that are in things," he continues. "I think that's what this has all done: It's given us all a new perspective on what life is and what life's going to be and how we need to be as people, and music can really, really light you up that way."

LOOK: Sweet Pics of Tim McGraw + Faith Hill

McGraw has also been letting himself relax a bit more than usual. The incredibly fit star is known for his grueling workouts, and while he'd been picking up the pace on them earlier in the year, in preparation for a summer tour, McGraw admits he's not slacked off, exactly, but "taken a few days off more than I usually do," and is enjoying his wife's cooking rather than a super-strict diet.

"Faith makes great fried chicken. So we've had fried chicken quite a few times during this thing," McGraw shares, "and I make the mashed potatoes."

McGraw is currently scheduled to begin his 2020 Here on Earth Tour in early July. The singer and his team have not announced any adjustments to their plans in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary banning of mass gatherings, but McGraw admits it's "hard to know what that's gonna look like" whenever he hits the road.

"We all hope that it'll be like it was, you know: where everybody's crammed in and having a great time ... That's what we love about going to concerts and playing music," McGraw says, later adding, "We're not gonna do anything that doesn't have everybody's best interest at heart ... I think it's gotta be as safe as you possibly can be."

McGraw misses the stage, though: "I think that my whole career, and even getting my record deal, was based on me playing live ... This is the whole catalyst for my career," he reflects. "So I miss it. I love playing live ...